Christmas travel warning as rail work heads to Shrewsbury
Rail users are being advised not to travel too late on Christmas Eve as line work across the country is set to start from 10pm, including around Shrewsbury.
Work around Shrewsbury Station will start at 10pm on Christmas Eve and is planned to be complete by 6am on December 27, the morning after Boxing Day as part of Network Rail's biggest ever Christmas upgrade.
Up to 200 upgrade projects are being delivered across the UK over this holiday period.
Nichole Sarra, speaking for Network Rail said: "We will be renewing sleepers and carrying out track maintenance around the station area.
"But work will start at 10pm not just in Shrewsbury but other areas as well, so we're encouraging passengers to check their journey ahead of travelling.
"There is no service on Christmas Day and Boxing Day anyway, and everything will be back up and running by 6am on the Tuesday, so it shouldn't have a big impact on service."
The investment is part of Network Rail's Railway Upgrade Plan to provides more and faster services to relieve over-crowding, responding to the tremendous growth encountered on Britain's railways, Phil Hufton, managing director England & Wales at Network Rail, said
He said: "Work takes place all year round as part of our railway upgrade plan, but we usually carry out larger upgrades over bank holidays as this is when passenger numbers are at their lowest.
"This Christmas will see significant investment in our railway with thousands of Network Rail's orange army working hard to deliver hundreds of crucial projects to improve Britain's railways.
"This will mean changes to services over the festive period, so we strongly advise passengers to plan their journeys as early as possible.
"Despite our essential upgrades the vast majority of the rail network, more than 90 percent, remains unaffected and will be open for business as usual.
"This vital investment will make the railway more reliable for years to come, while improving journeys for thousands of passengers.
"There's never a good time to impact on journeys and I'd like to thank passengers in advance for their patience," he said.
A breakdown of how journeys may be affected can be found by visiting nationalrail.co.uk/Christmas and following #ChristmasWorks on Twitter.
